Interesting! The feeling of being exposed is definitely in there. First, the pool was at a hotel where I stayed for a business conference that’s held twice a year but not usually in a location where I’d be wearing a swimsuit in front of my colleagues.

Second, the argument is with a person who is pointing out what he believes are very serious mistakes and errors in judgment, and part of what makes it so distressing is that part of me wonders if he’s right, and I’ve been hiding these errors from myself.

And finally, it was hard to write this poem because it was so soon after a terrorist attack and the distressing aftermath. It felt like I was exposing myself as a shallow person, to be writing about the pleasures of swimming and the unpleasantness of an argument that may be resolved fairly soon.

I wasn’t necessarily thinking “exposed,” but there it is, three different ways in a short poem. Very astute of MarinaSofia and of complynn’s students!